🗡️ Crypto’s revenge cycle

Brought to you by:

Everyone seems to have their own hot take on why Story co-founder Jason Zhao said he’s transitioning to an advisor role — and it’s polarized the timeline.

While some founders are stepping back, others are doubling down. Greg Solano of Yuga Labs is still pressing forward on his crypto-powered gaming vision with Otherside, which began as a metaverse project about three years ago. 

I’m cautiously optimistic. Let’s talk about it, plus some acquisition news.

— Kate Irwin

We’re in a weird cycle

Yuga Labs wants its “Otherside” game to be like the Roblox or Fortnite of crypto — and isn’t giving up, despite the ongoing blockchain gaming lull. 

Part digital social space, part video game with the goal of making user-generated content a massive part of the experience, Otherside is arguably the most ambitious crypto metaverse project still in development. 

“This cycle is very different. I feel like every crypto cycle is a little bit like a revenge on the excesses of the last one,” Yuga Labs CEO and cofounder Greg “Garga” Solano said in a recent interview. 

“It’s a weird cycle in that, like, the quote-unquote ‘consumer-crypto’ part of things is actually insanely quiet. Whereas North America is coming onchain via treasury companies, ETFs. And then it’s like just the Zoomers that are coming onchain via like memecoins and pump.fun,” Solano said.

Things certainly are much quieter on the gaming front. DappRadar reported last month that crypto gaming funding is down 93% year-over-year, and user activity is on the decline as well.

Yuga saw over half a billion dollars in “Otherdeed” virtual land NFT sales in less than a single day during the 2022 NFT boom — after raising $450 million in funding. 

If you ask me, if anyone has the dough to actually ship an expansive crypto game, it’s Yuga. But that also comes with a lot of pressure.

“The core Otherside holders don’t actually overlap a ton with Web3 gaming. It is a very collector-minded audience. And I think that’s also being taken into account,” Solano said of the decision to give Otherside a large social component.

On the development side, Solano said the Otherside team is “shipping at a faster cadence than we ever have.”

When asked whether Otherside has enough funding for another two to three years of development, Solano told crypto investor Jonah Blake: 

“Yes. Hands down. We can do that just with cash without ever even touching any crypto assets that we own.”

Brought to you by:

Katana is a DeFi chain built for real sustainable yield and deep liquidity. It concentrates liquidity into core applications and channels the chain’s revenue back to the users.

Creating a better DeFi experience that benefits the active users on the chain.

Earn boosted yield and KAT tokens: Deposit directly into vaults on the katana app and start earning on your ETH, BTC, USDC, and more.

Rarible acquires Coinbase-backed app

A new trend I’ve noticed: NFT marketplaces are snapping up small trading apps. 

I believe this is because NFT trading is still down bad, and legacy marketplaces want some of that memecoin and launchpad money. Plus, long-term, they’ll have to compete with the big exchanges like Coinbase and Robinhood for users, and need solid mobile apps. 

The latest acquisition in this evolution as NFT marketplaces look to become full-blown token trading apps? 

Rarible announced today that it’s acquired the Base-focused memecoin trading app Flipp, and is bringing on the app’s founder Artiom Ignatyev as Rarible’s VP of product. Rarible will incorporate some of Flipp’s UX design into its marketplace, with the goal of making Rarible a destination for trading more types of crypto assets.

Sound familiar? Yeah, Magic Eden and OpenSea have pursued this, too, with their respective acquisitions of Slingshot and Rally.

It’s all about broadening horizons.

It’s the summer of DATs and the party is going strong. 

But when October rolls around, everyone will be looking to DAS: London to hear from these meta-defining voices on where things stand and where they’re headed.

Get your ticket today with promo code: DROP100 for £100 off

📅 October 13-15 | London